Vancouver students, like these kindergartners shown in June 2012, would see innovations intended to personalize their educations if the district wins a big federal grant next month.Rebecca Barnhart / Special to The Oregonian

The U.S. Department of Education plans to name 15 to 25 winners by Dec. 31. Awards will range from $5 million to $40 million and are to be used to personalize education for students.

Portland Public Schools had planned to apply, but could not secure the required buy-in from its teachers union.

Finalists were chosen in large part on how well they could document a prior track record of success at advancing student learning and equity plus the quality of their plans to get all students ready for college and careers.

Vancouver was the lead applicant for a group of seven districts. The other six are in six different states, the closest one in Idaho.

Boston, Baltimore, New York City, Miami, Philadelphia and Salt Lake City also are among the finalists for the grant.